The Korea K-12 e-Green Initiative – grooming young leaders for a sustainable future

An eighth grader who won a writing competition at the 2008 Environmental Science Contest has been selected to be one of the Future Environmental Leaders (FEL) in South Korea. This designation comes with the opportunity to represent and engage other young environmental enthusiasts across the country. The purpose of the K-12 e-Green initiative is to foster young environmental leaders.

About 1 million students participate in the Environmental Science Contest, hosted by Korea Ministry of Environment (ME), Intel Foundation, and Korea Environmental Education Association, each year. Fifty winners are then again selected to attend a camp where the 10 best students are chosen to become FELs. Hye Yoon was the winner of the writing contest in 2008, and has been active in the e-Green initiative since that time.

Hye Yoon will now be educated on environmental issues through various programs, including monthly meetings with other FELs, field trips and environmental camps. This will give Hye Yoon and her peers the opportunity to not only develop their knowledge and understanding of current environmental issues, but also to implement green strategies for more sustainable living.

HS Lee, Intel Korea Country Manager said, “With support and commitment from the Intel Foundation over three years, the K-12 e-Green initiative sees Intel taking a leading role in encouraging other Korean companies to embrace green technologies.”

The program continues to go from strength to strength with more than 550,000 students participating in this year’s Intel Environmental Science Contest. Of those, 394 students received awards from the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Hye Yoon said she had always taken a keen interest in environment issues: “By being one of the e-Green FEL’s, I am learning more about how our behavior impacts the environment and why we must adapt. I hope to assist other students understand the issues, so I can show them what they can do to help.”